Extracts from a classic text: Book of the Quintessence Concerning What Is Indispensable For the Spiritual Seeker (transl. - Tosun Bayrak) Muhiyy ad-Din Ibn 'Arabi
1- Be giving,
generous
Learn to give,
whether you have plenty or little, whether you are happy or in pain. This is a
proof of your faith in Allah. Try to satisfy the needs of the needy. This is an
affirmation that Allah has assigned everyone's sustenance and nothing will
change it. This is a proof of your trusting in Allah.
2- Do not be
miserly
A miser is a
coward. The accursed Devil whispers in his ear that there is no death, that he
will live a long time; that the world is hostile; that if he gives he will be
left destitute, dishonored, and alone; that he should not be fooled by the
plenty that he now has, for no one knows what will happen tomorrow. Worse
still, if the miser has little, the devil tells him that soon he will have even
less. No one will help him; he will be a load on others and will be detested.
He has to look after himself. If these
evil imaginations capture the heart one may be led to he edge of hellfire.
On the other hand,
the ones who give their ears to Allah hear His blessed words. Allah says in the
Holy Qur'an:...and whoever is saved from the miserliness of his ego, these it
is that find salvation. (Hashr, 9)
3- Do not be
negative and control your temper
If you wish to
find the truth and have Allah's pleasure and support in it, then avoid being negative
and control your temper and anger. If you cannot stop anger, at least do not
show it. When you do this, you will please Allah and disappoint the devil. You
will begin to educate your ego and straighten and shorten your path. Anger is a
result and a sign of the ego not being under control, like a mean wild animal
untied and uncaged. As you hold your temper, it is as if you put a bridle on
its head and barriers around it. You begin then to tame it, teach it how to
behave, to obey, so that it cannot hurt others or itself (because it is a part
of you).
4- Be just, peaceful,
helpful, gentle and loving
Allah will treat
you the way He has ordered you to treat others. So try to assume the good qualities
of being just, peaceful, helpful, gentle, and loving. Persist in these
qualities; act with them. You will see that this character will spread from you
to others around you, creating harmony, mutual love, and respect. The Beloved
of Allah, our master the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), orders us
to love each other, to be in a continuous loving state. He repeats this in so
many ways, in so many statements. To leave anger, to replace it with bearing hardship,
with forgiving, with caring for the one who causes the hardship, is one of the cornerstones
of the foundation of love.
5-
Open your heart to spiritual influences, listen to the voice of your conscience
Open your heart in
order to receive divine benevolence. A benevolent heart becomes the mirror in
which Allah's favors are manifest. When the divine favors manifest and come
through you, when you feel His presence, you will feel shame at your improper
actions. This will cause both you and others to have conscience. Thus your
benevolence will protect you and others from sin.
6- Repent of
your misdeeds
Wake before
sunrise, remember Allah, and repent. When repentance follows sin, it erases it
The sin disappears as if it never happened. When repentance follows a
benevolent action or prayer, it is like light upon light, grace upon grace. To
remember Allah and to praise Him unifies the heart when it is scattered all
around - like a mirror broken into a thousand pieces - and mends it, makes it
into one, and turns it towards the One. Then all trouble leaves the heart, and
it is filled with the joy of the One whom it remembers.
7-
Strive to reform the faults of your lower self
Say to the self: "Indeed, after the aura of death has rendered you prostrate and life is fading away, if you can remember at all and repent, that repentance will not be accepted by Allah. The Prophet whom He sent as a mercy upon the universe said that though Allah accepts your repentance until the time when your breath is being choked out of you, at the moment of your death throes it is too late. Death comes without: warning - to some while eating, to some while drinking, to others while sleeping with their wives, to others in deep sleep from which they do not awake. Whoever, before that, has not turned from falsehood to truth, has not repented but persists in sinning, will fall into the abyss of death."
Say to the self: "Indeed, after the aura of death has rendered you prostrate and life is fading away, if you can remember at all and repent, that repentance will not be accepted by Allah. The Prophet whom He sent as a mercy upon the universe said that though Allah accepts your repentance until the time when your breath is being choked out of you, at the moment of your death throes it is too late. Death comes without: warning - to some while eating, to some while drinking, to others while sleeping with their wives, to others in deep sleep from which they do not awake. Whoever, before that, has not turned from falsehood to truth, has not repented but persists in sinning, will fall into the abyss of death."
Talk this way to
your self. Try to discipline and educate the desires of your flesh. As. they
are persistent in sinning, be persistent in convincing them to stop sinning. If
you keep warning your lower self, with the help of Allah the knots binding your
heart will be untied. That is the only way to be saved.
8- Fear the
retributions of your misdeeds
The fear of Allah
is a protection, the thing that guards you from harm. Allah's protection is the
strongest of all armor, of all fortifications; no harm can penetrate it. That
is what divine fear secures for you. The Prophet of Allah, whom He sent as His
mercy upon the universe, himself took refuge in his lord. Praying to Him, he
said, "I take refuge in Your pleasure, in Your beauty, in Your gentleness,
from Your wrath and Your strength. I take refuge in Your divine mercy and compassion,
from your punishment. I take refuge in You from You."
9- Strive to
follow god, fearing karmic retribution
Seek, learn about,
and imitate the beneficent acts of your Creator that manifest all around you. Protect
yourself against divine wrath with acts and deeds in accordance with Allah's
pleasure. Whatever act, whatever thing, whatever path is under the shadow of
doubt and fear, do not come close to it. Leave it. Know that knowing your
Creator and obeying Him is the only path that will lead you to peace and
felicity.
10
- Do not be fatalistic or agnostic about karma
While you persist
in sinning and stubbornly refuse to see your errors, why are you so proud that Allah
treats you with patience, kindness, and generosity in spite of your sins? Is it
that you are fooled by what the devil whispers in your ear, saying, "If it
weren't for your sins and your revolt, how would Allah manifest His infinite
mercy, compassion, and generosity?" Don't you see how irrational that evil
teaching is? Would it be less merciful and beneficent for the Owner of Infinite
Wisdom to prevent His servant from opposing His will and pleasure?
11- Seek to be
chaste and pure and develop the discrimination to do so
It falls upon you
to examine each act, each word, each act of worship, each relation with others such
as friendship or marriage. You must find whether each thing is good or bad,
clean or unclean, right or wrong-in other words, lawful or unlawful. In some
cases it is clear; then you must choose the right over the wrong. In some cases
it is doubtful; then you must leave it as if it were wrong and seek that which
is sure.
12-
Do not give in to the temptations of the lower self
Chastity is the
foundation of religion and the path to truth. If you are chaste, all your deeds
will be pure and sincere; all you do will end well; you will be in harmony with
the divine order. You will be the recipient of divine generosity; all will turn
to you. You will be under divine protection. If you are chaste and pious,
avoiding the wrong and the doubtful, there is no doubt that you will receive
all these blessings.
13-
View the world as a ground for trials and learning experiences – face them with
detachment, acceptance and equanimity
This world is a
place of preparation where one is given many lessons and poses many tests.
Choose less over
more in it. Be satisfied with what you have, even if it is less than what
others have. In fact, prefer to have less. This world is not bad - on the
contrary, it is the field of the hereafter. What you plant here, you will reap
there. This world is the way to eternal bliss and so is good - worthy to be
cherished and to be praised. What is bad is what you do with the world when you
become blind to truth and totally consumed by your desires, lust, and ambition
for it.
14-
Do not abandon the world, participate actively in it
This does not mean
that you should abandon the world, not do your duties in it or participate in its
affairs - retiring to a corner, making no effort, doing no work. The Messenger
of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) says, "Allah likes to see the
believer working at his profession." "Indeed Allah likes the one who
has a craft." "The one who earns his sustenance lawfully through his
efforts is beloved of Allah." These sayings mean that Allah's beneficence
encompasses all who work hard in a craft or business in this world. It is for
this reason that all the prophets worked for their sustenance.
15- Do not be wordly
When the love of
the world fills your heart totally, it leaves no space for the remembrance of Allah.
Forgetting the hereafter, you prefer this temporal world. All that you need
from the world is something lawful to satisfy your hunger, something with which
to cover yourself, and a roof over your head. Let these be the only things you
ask from this world, nothing more. Don't be envious of the apparent temporal
abundance the world-bound seem to enjoy, nor wish for the riches they have
gathered without any consideration of right or wrong, of lawful or unlawful.
Someone who
chooses this temporal world over the true good of the eternal Hereafter will
never reach his goal, either here or there. For the ambition of one who is
ambitious for this world will never be satisfied. …The desires of this world
are like sea water. The more you drink of them, the more you thirst….Do not
exchange your spiritual peace and the possibility of eternal bliss for the
temporal,decaying goods of this world. No matter how grand and secure they
look, they will die when you die. Death may come in your next step upon this
earth, and all your dreams of this world will evaporate.
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